24 Sabb diary
3 October 2013 • The Saint
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Sabb diary: SRC motions and Union events Each issue your sabbatical officers keep you up to date with the latest developments In the first SRC of this year we passed three motions that are the first steps in our plan this year of making the Students’ Association more accessible to all students. In the weeks after we were elected, the four of us spent many late nights in a study room in the library trying to finish our dissertations. Honestly though, we spent most of those late nights discussing what we wanted to achieve this year and it became clear that, in part, we all had a similar agenda: to make the Students’ Association – your Union – more accessible to students. For Daniel this meant making events much more varied to cater for different tastes and interests. For Kelsey this meant improving the societies’ training by getting societies to think about accessibility needs, whether it be always providing a non- alcoholic drink option or being mindful of people who don’t speak up but might want to contribute to debate. The motions passed last Tuesday go some way towards our team’s be-
lief in accessibility: • A Motion to Adopt a Trans* and Intersex Bathroom Policy – allowing Trans* students to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify, and efforts to include gender-neutral bathrooms in the redeveloped building, so they feel comfortable in their Union. • A Motion to Have the Students’ Association Sign the ‘see me Scotland Pledge’ to End the Stigma on Mental Ill-Health – the first step in Teddy’s big campaign on mental health; the issues, ways of looking after one’s health and the stigma around mental ill-health. • A Motion Regarding a Zero Tolerance on Harassment in the Students’ Association – a policy that defines harassment, and explains to students that they do not have to put up with harassment as a part of their nights out and that the Students’ Association will not tolerate it within our building, because our buildings are meant for all students to enjoy. It all sounds like serious stuff, but it’s important that we think about the serious stuff to make sure the Union is a welcoming place for all its members – you.
Daniel Palmer
Director of events and services Saturday nights are now very different at the Union. Events aren’t as repetitive so we can entertain as many students as possible. Our student body is incredibly diverse, and we can’t assume they all want the same thing. It makes my job very difficult, but also more rewarding. It’s fairly unique that our Union’s events are student-managed so I want to retain that student focus. That’s why I’ve tried to put on something on for everyone, so far featuring comedy, a cappella, laser tag, ceilidhs and crazy golf, as well as numerous varied dance nights. The concept is best explained with our Saturday cycle, which runs through four monthly events. The first is Rewind, a cheesy night of 90s music and guilty pleasures, as showcased in Freshers’. We all know someone who is secretly listening to these classics in the library, so, once a month, this one’s just to go out there and enjoy. The second are special events, such as week 1’s Silent Disco and week 5’s Roller Disco. These popular club
Photo: Maria Faciolince
The sabbatical officers
The recent a cappella concert was one of several alternative events put on by the Union concepts mix up our nights, so keep your eye out! Live music is third in the cycle. Now with a proper home in our entertainment schedule it includes events such as Music is Love’s fantastic Electro night last week. Last but not least is our night by Ministry of Sound – Unitrash – bringing up a Ministry DJ for an epic night from the
real experts. It’s going to be a great night and starts this Saturday. If Saturday nights aren’t for you, we have free live music every Monday at 1pm in the main Union bar, from Coffee House Sessions – bringing live music to St Andrews for you to enjoy over a coffee or your emails, so come and try it!
The views expressed in Sabb diary do not represent the views of The Saint. The Saint is not affiliated with the Students’ Association.
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Saint Features editor 2012-13 I have now been in Thailand for 61 days (at time of writing), which I believe qualifies me to utter the following sentence at any future parties, social gatherings, job interviews, etc, with total conviction: I once lived in Thailand. 61 days has seen me through two calender months, several full / half moons (as quantified by the infamous moon parties that have passed during my time here), two official seasons (we are now amidst the rainy one – it’s like being back in Scotland) and countless novel Thai experiences. It is with this knowledge tucked firmly into the waistline of my trusted harem pants that I feel I can begin my attempts at conveying to you, dear reader, about living life in the Thai way. First, the Thais are really rather friendly. Suitably labelled “the land of the smiles,” its people are genuinely caring and eager to help the ‘farang‘ (the term used to label us foreigners). The moment you look remotely lost, dazed or confused – whether that
my most favourite coffee stall would be open to provide me with my vital caffeine fix. I fear that some individuals can become so laid back that they expose themselves to the risk of becoming horizontal – pun very much intended, because Thai people sleep anywhere and everywhere (on street benches, upon train platforms, on temple stairs, in the back of moving tuk-tuks, under restaurant tables…). Go online to read the rest of this article and more of Caitlin’s adventures in Thailand.
Photo: Caitlin Hamilton
Caitlin Hamilton
be while standing in a train station queue, attempting to order from a delicious array of street food cuisine or merely resting your wearied feet atop the steps of a temple – you are bombarded by a handful of locals who, combined, use their few words of broken English to aid you on your way. Remaining true to the belief governed by the Buddhist lifestyle, the people live ‘cool heartedly’ (jai-yen), in stark comparison to the ‘warmheartedly’ (jai-rawn) nature of western cultures. This means that they do not allow themselves to become overwhelmed or hot tempered when faced with challenging situations, and instead maintain an ever-calm and rational mind and heart. Schedule. A word that has been known to strike fear into the heart of any disorganised individual. Sadly, I suffer from a spectacular case of OWS (Organisational Withdrawal Syndrome); in other words, I get incredibly stressed and frustrated when living in world with no organisational structure. Thailand is such a place. Buses run when enough people fill the seats, hostel rooms can only be checked into when the maid has eventually made her rounds and, despite having structured timetables, children wander into their classroom lessons whenever the mood moves them. Having said that, the most distressing example of this complete lack of structure was the daily battle I had in hazarding a guess at what time
Caitlin Hamilton teaches English in Thailand
Richard Browne Saint editor 2012-13
In my inaugural graduate blog post, I told of how I had flown back from Russia and was working in the National Galleries of Scotland as gallery attendant and Press Office volunteer. On the face of it, not a great deal has changed – NGS takes up four to five days of my week on average. As for the rest of my time, it is generally being dedicated to BUCS planning and learning to drive. More on those later. The gallery attendant job is ticking along, a steady wage my reward for standing in a room watching people and gesturing at tourists in search of Greyfriars Bobby. As for the Press Office, I find that I am learning quite a lot. Not only what a press office does (at least on a Friday afternoon) and how it interacts with journalists and filmmakers, but also about the art world and how it is reported in the media. This has come as something of a surprise to me. I make no claims to be-
ing an authority on the arts; my musical knowledge barely stretches beyond 1985 and my main contribution to The Saint’s Arts and Culture section during my four years in St Andrews was ten Game of Thrones episode reviews. But now I’m going through articles comparing Francis Bacon to Henry Moore (Bacon wins) and evaluating German funding for the arts (it’s increasing, in stark contrast to the UK). I’ve also seen how different outlets cover art, be it the Guardian, Edinburgh Evening News or culture24.org.uk. Before I get carried away, I should stress that I still know far more about van Persie than van Dyck and so I doubt I’ll be making my debut on The Culture Show quite yet. Nonetheless, it is an interesting experience and one that I hope to build on. One way I intend to do just that will be by working for BUCS once again. Having managed to not make a complete hash of media tasks in Kazan, I have been fortunate enough to be entrusted with being media officer for Great Britain (Team GBR) at the Winter Universiade, which takes place this December in Trentino, Italy. At the moment this role translates as contacting relevant winter sports publications and websites and researching sports about which I knew very little... Read the rest of this article and more of Richard’s graduate exploits online.